Bruins center Sean Kuraly hopes production becomes more consistent

Sean Kuraly, the rookie who centers the Bruins fourth line, has scored goals in the past two games after going goal-less for the previous 29.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON – Everything was going so well for the team, it was easy not to notice. It even escaped Sean Kuraly’s attention.

But as the holidays, a bye week and the All-Star break passed, the fact that he hadn’t scored a goal since the day after Thanksgiving began to eat at Sean Kuraly a bit.

“I didn’t really notice it until mid-January,” said the Bruins’ 25-year-old rookie center. “Then, I started to kind of realize I hadn’t scored, and for two or three weeks I was pressing. I really wanted to get one, just so I could stop thinking about it.”

Suddenly, Kuraly can’t help scoring. After breaking a 29-game string without a goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 victory at Detroit, he scored another on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in a 6-1 pummeling of the Rangers.

Kuraly won’t enter tonight’s home date against the Sabres or Sunday’s visit to New Jersey (both at 7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 998.5) focused on extending his own streak, but he does like to think he can contribute more consistently over the final 30 games of his first NHL season.

“Everyone’s here to try to score,” he said. “That’s the point of the game, right? It’s something I definitely want to add.

“For me, it’s about getting my chances … but not getting on myself for not finishing. That just seems to slow everything down. For me, it’s about getting as many chances as I can, and hopefully then it’s the percentages: The more pucks I get towards the net, the more goals I’ll get.”

Kuraly, considered something of a throw-in when the B’s acquired him plus a 2016 first-round draft choice (Trent Frederic) from the Sharks for just-acquired goalie Martin Jones on June 30, 2015, has emerged as a surprisingly steadying presence this season: He’s one of only five Bruins to play all 52 games to date, and he has been the only player to center their fourth line.

The preferred version of that fourth line, with Tim Schaller at left wing and Noel Acciari on the right, hasn’t been seen for the past six games. Acciari hasn’t played any of them because of a lower body injury, and while Schaller also hasn’t missed a game this season, he had to move up to the third line when suspension (Brad Marchand) and injury (rookie Anders Bjork) left the B’s shorthanded at left wing.

That hasn’t kept Schaller from being effective, and it didn’t keep him from ending the goal-less streak this week. He skated between Frank Vatrano and Austin Czarnik on Tuesday in Detroit (although his goal, scored during a line change, came off a pass from first-line winger David Pastrnak), and with Marchand back but Vatrano injured, Wednesday’s line was Schaller-Kuraly-Czarnik.

“The fourth line isn’t going to be stable all year, because the other lines aren’t going to be stable,” said Kuraly, who also had an assist against the Red Wings. “It’s important to be easy to play with, and predictable. You’re going to have new guys in there every night who need to know what you’re going to do.”

That predictability kept Kuraly in the lineup, even when he wasn’t scoring: He had only two assists during the 29-game goal drought, and was without a point over his previous 21 games before scoring against the Wings.

“Sean plays a certain way every night,” coach Bruce Cassidy said of the 6-foot-2, 213-pounder, the Bruins’ only left-handed center and a full-time penalty-killer. “He doesn’t deviate from it very often. It’s a good style, when games get tighter and heavier.

“I just see a good, solid player fitting in where we’ve put him to have the chance to have the best success. I think he’s done a real good job as a fourth line center.”

Around the boards: Acciari practiced on Friday; Cassidy said his availability will be determined on Saturday morning … Vatrano (lower body), Bjork and defenseman Kevan Miller (both upper body) didn’t practice on Friday and won’t play on Saturday. … Tuukka Rask takes streaks of 19-0-2 and 8-0-0 into tonight’s start against the Sabres. Anton Khudobin will face the Devils on Sunday.

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